It was a complete domination of the Montreal Als last night as our B.C. Lions showed that last week's win was not a one-game wonder but a turnaround from a poor first two games.
Here are some post-game thoughts.
OFFENCE
The headlines will be the 'Manny' show with three touchdowns as the big converted slotback showed his ability to go deep as well as outcompete for balls thrown in his area but Andrew Harris also had another big game, as he was a double threat on the ground and in the air.
At the end of last season our offence was powerful behind a run game of the newly aquired Stefan Logan to compliment Andrew Harris and a new blocking scheme. For some inexplicable reason, our offence came out in 2014 in the spread offence attempting to play pass and catch for our first two games and instead played get sacked and get whacked. This was the second game in a row that we priorized the running attack, used single and double tight end formations a lot, and opened some big holes for Harris and Logan.
Andrew Harris is playing like a tailback possessed. He has been a different player since Stefan Logan arrived. While Harris did not have many holes to run through during our running game doldrums in mid-season 2013, Harris also played uninspired football during that time as well. I think there are a few key reasons why Harris is playing the best football of his career. The first is that the addition of Logan to our running attack was a direct challenge to Harris, who, mid-season last year looked like he was playing as if the non-import tailback postion was locked up for good with him in the spot. Secondly, and more importantly, the addition of Logan enabled Harris to be much fresher when he was handed the football. I believe, like in the NFL, the CFL will go more often to sharing the tailback position, when there is the opportunity to do so, either with a national or the use of a scat back who is also a klck returner. Thirdly , Harris is getting that iniitail hole more often and he is making plays once he does.
Kevin Glenn has another excellent game. While we used single and double tight formations a lot again last night we still played more spread than I would have liked and Glenn faced a lot of pressure on most passing plays. Glenn's quick release and accurate throws were a key to our offence. Glenn had thrown the football for over 300 yard by the end of the third quarter. For those who think our offence will be even better when Lulay returns should pause in those thoughts for a moment. Glenn was sacked 4 times but could have been sacked 10 times and he made some very quick decisions and threw some very accurate footballs under pressure. Lulay will give us more mobility and a double threat quarterback but he will not be able to make the quick decisions and accurate throws as Glenn. Our Lions will not go for a two quarterback system when Lulay returns but it might make some sense.
Kudos to Hunter Steward for an excellent first game. He showed that a national can play the left tackle position and considering it was his first game and against a strategic, skilled blitzing defense his perfomance was impressive. The attention given to the left tackle position has underscored how well KIrby Fabian has played in his last two games. A key to our improved offensive line play has also been the improved play of Matt Norman on blitz and stunt pickup. He was terrible in our first two games but his play in the last two games has been a marked improvement.
Our offence got 21 points from turnovers and great field position at times due to a smothering defense.
I've watched our offence for 4 games now and we are basically running the same offence as last season and most of our offensive plays are right out of last season's play book. We used the old pitch toss against the Als a lot and Logan makes that play work so well due to his speed to the edge as well as his cut back ability. The only real wrinkles added to last year's offensive scheme are more plays with both Harris and Logan in the backfield, the use of Logan and Harris in the slots and sending them downfield on pass patterns or using the slotback hitch screen. We've also adapted the way we run the wide receiver hitch screen, with the receiver curiling back towards the quarterback.
The key is that (ike at the conclusion of last season) when we run the football and run it successfully our offence is very difficult to stop. When we don't run the football often enough or run it successfully, our offence stuggles when it is one dimensional. Our first two games we didn't committ to the run and we ran mostly out of the spread and we ran poorly, passed poorly, got our quarterback sacked and almost destroyed, turned the football over, and we last in the CFL in terms of time of possession. We left our defense on the field too long by not being able to mount drives, had too many two and outs, and the mauling that our offence was taking on the field was demoralizing.
The last two games, it was our offence doing the mauling by committing to power formations and the aggression of the run game. The recipe for offensive success and failure are clearly written based upon our wins and losses in our first four games. Hopefully, we won't deviate much from the offensive formula of these last two games as we continue this season.
DEFENSE
Our defense was much improved going into this 2014 season. The return of Khalif Mitchell and Jamal Johnson, the additions of Josh Johnson and Torri Williams, the draft of Menard to add Canadian depth on our defensive line, the move of an outstanding cover guy in Cord Parks to the very important short side half position, and the ability to replace Parks at wide side corner with a young aggressive cover guy in Stefan Yell.
The question marks coming into this season on defense were nickel back, safety, defensive end, and whether vets like Marsh and Phillips could play at a high level. Josh Johnson is more than answering the nickel back question. Torri Williams has shown that he can really play when given the opportunity but LaRose is still absent on many plays when he is in there. Marsh has been up and down but Phillips is still an excellent cover guy who most quarterbacks don;t want to attack.
When Torri Williams is in the game, we are still one player away, in that we don't have a pure, dominating rush end. Bezzie is giving us more than we had last season at rush end, which is helping Smith at the other end spot and Smith is defying odds with a great season so far. Khalif Mitchell's play during our first 3 games may not have stood out but Mitchell keeps offensive lineman off our linebackers (a big problem last season) and allows them to make plays. But this game also showed how far Westerman has come along and he had a very good game last night.
The Als offence looked badly out of sync but our defense also played a big role in getting them out of sorts too. To hold any team to that embarrasing amount of passing yards is impressive, no matter who is playing quarterback. Our linebacker play is terrific and it should be with the best linebacking unit in the league. We shut down Montreal;s passing attack and made it look horrible. We did that in the second half against the Riders too. Our defense has only given up one touchdown in the last two games.
What's been the difference. Having our offence move the football has enabled our defense to be a lot fresher. Having our offence not be mauled and play tough, aggressive in your face football featuring the running attack has been inspiring. But the key has been that our pass defense has not been in the soft zone of the first two games and played opposition receivers tough.
During our first two games our coaches coached really dum football and our players looked uninspired to boot. The last two games our coaches have given our players the type of game plans that have allowed them to play aggressive football and they've made plays because of it. The two early losses and especially the beat down in Montreal, gave our players a wake up call as well and they have rallied together. But the big difference has been coaching, on both sides of the football.
The coachiing weak spot right now is our return game on special teams. Too many penalties and a lack of key blocks is powerfully hampering an excellent return man's potential in Stefan Logan. McMann needs to join his two peers in Washington and Khari Jones in getting his return team's play turned around.
Benevedes is also making progress. The cockiness and posturing and sideline antics have really been toned down. The chest bumping and coach-player celebrations were removed last week. The ranting and demonstrative sideline antics were absent in this game. Getting off to a great start again and a huge win help but Benevedes also looks like he has received some sage advice regarding his deportment.
WRAP
It was a big win and a confidence boosting win to take on Montreal's blitzing defense and dominate it. This game showed how much talent we have on defence as well.
Winnipeg will be a very good test next weekend. A win and we will have solidified our new positive direction. A loss will create some new questions and a return of some old ones.
I liked what I saw against Montreal while still seeing that we have a lot more potential. We need to use our outside recievers more often in our pass game and we need to get even more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The trend is our friend as we prepare for the Bombers.
A confidence boosting victory for our Leos.